Social Change Starting from Healing - What We Can Do for the Future | What We Can Do for the Future | Self-Disclosure | Self-Understanding | Living as a Woman | Changing Society | Gender | Future | Healing | Essay | Psychology | Dream Diary | Dream Analysis | Speech

We women are exposed daily to unconscious bias, sexism, and words or attitudes like
sexual harassment.

I wonder if everyone has had the experience of telling themselves,
"I have to put up with this, it can't be helped."
I have been there myself.

In the past, I would laugh off things that bothered me because I was afraid of being seen as a difficult person.

For example, at work, only women are asked to
pour tea, or at a business dinner,
I am told,
"You should sit next to them because you make the atmosphere more relaxed."
While accumulating such small feelings of discomfort,

I would cover up my heart, thinking, "Is it really worth worrying about this much?"
—I have had that experience many times myself.

Of course, it is important to change social rules and
systems.
But in reality, it is difficult to change the structure itself
immediately.

That is why I believe it is important, first of all,
for us women to stop turning a blind eye to our own wounds
and allow ourselves to be healed.

What I experienced was the power of self-disclosure.

Even with fear and anxiety, by posting my experiences and thoughts on note or
presenting them in public as a speech, my heart gradually became lighter.

Healing through self-disclosure works more strongly when expressed in a more public and wider arena.

Self-disclosure to many people
takes a lot of courage, but
it brings a correspondingly deep healing
—I have had such experiences repeatedly.

As you heal,
the feeling of blaming others softens.
Then, the words and attitudes you convey to others
naturally change as well.

Now, on social media, women have
more opportunities to speak up.
I think this is an important change.

However, claims made without self-healing
sometimes manifest as strong anger or aggression,
and as a result, can deepen the divide between men and women.

It is not just laws and systems that change the future.
First, each person must have a place where they can safely
talk about their feelings,
and know and heal their own pain.
That experience will also

gently change relationships with others.
If more people sublimate their pain and trauma and

become healed,
eventually the values of society as a whole
will change little by little.
In the end, grassroots activities by each individual are important.

Sometimes the long way round is the shortest way.

What we can do for the future—
perhaps it begins with allowing ourselves that small first step of healing.

When we are healed,
we can finally have a true voice.
It is by no means
a voice to attack someone.

By speaking about my own experiences and pain, it reaches someone
who carries the same pain,
and becomes a seed of courage for that person—
I believe in such a chain.